laurelgonzales' Journey with Colorectal (Colon) Cancer

Thought I had a groin muscle pull from the dance class I was taking. I was very active & fit and ate a good diet. I had a colonoscopy @ 55 & was told I was good for 10 years. I am now 61. The pain didn't go away so I went to my dr. who sent me to a gynecologist and still it was thought to be a musculo-skeletal problem. I went to chiropractic & acupuncture & still no relief. Then my stomach started hurting intensely so I ended up w/3 visits to the ER & finally a CT scan & another colonoscopy found a cecum tumor & metastasis to the liver. An endoscopy showed no problem inside my stomach by the liver was swollen & pushing in to my stomach causing the pain. Eventually the liver shrank back & I have not had any more stomach problems.

I was given IV Oxaliplatin, Avastin & Xeloda pills. 4 treatment every 3 weeks. I am a teacher, so a sub started the new school year for me. I am on medical leave until 12/31/12, then will be assessed again.

Neuropathy was my worst side effect in arms, hands & feet. Lack of appetite was next-- I dropped to 95 lbs from my usual 118 (I'm 5' 3). Then I got hand/ foot syndrome and they completely peeled & were very tender.

After a 6 week break from chemo to get CT & PET scans, I resumed w/more of the same chemo regimen (will have 6 this time every 2 weeks) except Xeloda pills were substituted w/5FU administered through my port by a pump. I broke out in lip/mouth sores after the 4th day & had to get an Rx to clear them up. I just had my second of 6 treatments, w/the 5FU reduced by 25% to decrease mouth/lip problems, and have had few side effects except slight sensitivity to cold. I am maintaining a weight of 103-108 generally.